


Nobody said it was easy

by Blood and Weetabix (melchiorstiefel)



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post 4x12 - Lazarus, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 18:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1439143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melchiorstiefel/pseuds/Blood%20and%20Weetabix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No-one ever said it would this hard.</p><p>Multi-chapter fic documenting Ian's recovery. Broadly chronological; consecutive chapters may be concurrent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nobody said it was easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first multichap.
> 
> I have it very roughly planned, but the prologue was actually originally a separate fic. The main body of this fic starts in Chapter Two.
> 
> Unbetaed. May be edited before Chapter Two comes out.

_"What was that, Mumbles?" Mickey's voice rang out across the room, stirring Ian awake. He pulled the covers down to flash his boyfriend his trademark grin -- which was promptly spoiled by his trademark yawn._

_"Hey" Ian said, sleep straining his voice._

_"Well it's about time, Sleeping Beauty", Mickey quipped, and Ian had to stifle a laugh at how much Mickey's face lit up at his own joke. Mickey all but launched himself across the bed, his head landing on the pillow just inches from Ian's, staring deep into his shining eyes._

_"Come on, get up!" he said after a second. "We're going out for lunch, okay?"_

_The redhead smirked and Mickey almost regretted everything he'd just said. Almost. "Mikhailo Milkovich!" Ian exclaimed in faux-shock. "Did you just ask me out on a date?!" To emphasise his point, he clutched his hands over his heart._

_"Yeah, yeah, fuck you." Mickey rolled off the bed with a soft smile, and made his way to the living room, lingering in the doorway just long enough to give his boyfriend a good view of his ass._

_Ian slowly got up and fished for some clothes when Mickey's voice carried through the door._

_"If you're ready in five minutes, I'm paying, Firecrotch!"_

* * *

_Honestly, Mickey was going to pay anyway, but he couldn't let Ian know that. And, besides, he doesn't think he's ever SEEN his boyfriend get ready so quickly._

_In fact, he was mostly surprised that all of Ian's clothes were on the right way around when he appeared in the living room. But the permanent grin was adorable, and Mickey would give ANYTHING to keep that grin in his life, so he pushed down his creeping malaise and pushed his Gallagher out of the door._

_The hot-dog place was nothing fancy, really. It was nice enough, and it was in the "good neighbourhood" [which is Back of the Yards-talk for "not quite as crap"], but it wasn't anything special._

_Still, the spring in Ian's step and the light in his eyes didn't fade. Mickey wondered if he would ever stop falling deeper in love with Ian, and for the first time he found that he didn't WANT to stop falling._

_Falling in love with Ian Gallagher was what made Mickey free. Free to be himself._

_Of course, he still had appearances to keep up, so when Ian noticed that he was being stared at, Mickey quickly averted his gaze, smirking down at the pavement and rubbing his upper lip._

* * *

_They were probably o_ _nly out for forty-five minutes, tops, but Mickey found that it wasn't anywhere near as painful as he expected. When he got through the door, he took a second to evaluate the trip, and he concluded that he'd actually rather enjoyed parading his boyfriend around town with him._

_Also, the sex that followed was pretty good, and Mickey made a mental note to do more of that "coupley shit"... If only because the reward was a mindblowing orgasm. It's definitely nothing to do with the flutter in his chest as Mickey paid for their dogs._

* * *

Mickey didn't realise he was crying until he felt Mandy's hand on his shoulder over the back of the couch. He'd been miles away in his fantasy-land. A land where Ian was okay. A land where he and Ian had gone on a stupid motherfucking date and done stupid fucking coupley shit, and had mindblowing sex afterwards.

But Ian wasn't okay. And Mickey was watching some shitty film on his own on the couch because he couldn't even get his fucking boyfriend to get up for an hour and a half to watch whatever crap he could get on their stolen cable.

"It'll be okay, Mick", Mandy's voice was a hollow whisper, as she willed herself to believe the words were true. And Mickey willed himself to believe them, but he couldn't.

Ian was sick. And Mickey didn't know how to fix it, but he had to try.

Ian had put Mickey back together so many times before. Now it was his turn to return the favour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic will switch between Mickey and Ian POVs [though always third-person]. There may be Mandy, Lip, Fiona and Debbie POV chapters.


End file.
